Chapter 3: Particularities of the Office and its History

In all diversity, there are also common points and continuities in the history of the office of arms. There are especially those particularities which define that office and contribute a great deal to its uniqueness. Those particularities are an absolute prerequisite to understand the functions and duties of the office of arms in all its variety. And perhaps, it is only by them that their long history may once be understood in all its diversity. When writing them down, all these particularities must be described in a historical, dynamic perspective, looking at their origins and asking for their perseverance in different countries and in different times, raising questions of continuity and change which have to be explained.

Topics that could be discussed in this chapter

the office names

their meaning (battlecries, titles of their masters, devises, etc.)

their use for political claims

their mix-up with civil names by becoming the civil name of some officers or their relatives

the habit and the insignia of the office (tabard, email, staff, crown, sword/dagger)

the oath, baptism and immunity (& dangers), the neutrality of heralds, and thus the herald as an impersonal “personne publique” and its obligation to speak the truth

privileges of heralds

travelling, internationality, international networks

how to become a herald (required skills, training)

iconography of heralds (12th-18th c.)

important case studies:

regional comparisons (e.g. oath) and

comparisons in the longue durée (e.g. habit)

Torsten Hiltmann

Torsten Hiltmann is Juniorprofessor for the High and Late Middle Ages and Auxiliary Sciences at the University of Münster. He is interested in medieval and early modern visual communication and heraldry, the medieval notion of kingship and the methods and technologies of Digital Humanities.

History of Heralds in Europe (12th – 18th c.)

This blog supports a workshop and a collaborative book project on the history of heralds in Europe (12th-18th c.). It informs about the progress of the project and provides a platform of exchange and discussion to the participants as well as to everyone interested in this under-explored subject.